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University of Miami researcher reveals association between 'salience processing' and brain disorders

How does the brain determine what matters? According to a new scientific article, a brain structure called the insula is essential for selecting things out of the environment that are "salient" for an individual, and dysfunction of this system is linked to brain disorders such as autism, psychosis and dementia.

5 Dec 2014

Cellular Research announces commercial availability of Precise targeted RNASeq assays

Cellular Research today announced the commercial launch of its Precise targeted RNASeq assays. The company also announced the commercial availability of application-focused panels for the Precise assays, including panels designed for oncology, induced pluripotent stem cells and immunology.

5 Dec 2014

Abstinence-induced changes in the brain could help predict relapse in smokers

Quitting smoking sets off a series of changes in the brain that Penn Medicine researchers say may better identify smokers who will start smoking again—a prediction that goes above and beyond today's clinical or behavioral tools for assessing relapse risk.

5 Dec 2014

Researchers discover essential role of intestinal immune system in controlling energy metabolism

A group of UCL researchers (Louvain Drug Research Institute) identified an unsuspected mechanism impacting the development of obesity and diabetes type 2 after following a diet with a high dose of fat nutrition.

5 Dec 2014

Most parents interested in newborn genomic testing, study reveals

A study published this week in Genetics in Medicine is the first to explore new parents' attitudes toward newborn genomic testing. The findings suggest that if newborn genomic testing becomes available, there would be robust interest among new parents, regardless of their demographic background.

5 Dec 2014

Growth genes seem different in Hunger Winter children

Individuals conceived in the severe Dutch Famine, also called the Hunger Winter, may have adjusted to this horrendous period of World War II by making adaptations to how active their DNA is. Genes involved in growth and development were differentially regulated, according to researchers at the Leiden University Medical Center, Harvard University, and Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health.

5 Dec 2014

Hormone leptin increases blood pressure that occurs with weight gain

Leptin, a hormone that regulates the amount of fat stored in the body, also drives the increase in blood pressure that occurs with weight gain, according to researchers from Monash University and the University of Cambridge.

5 Dec 2014

Scientists seek to improve stem cell transplant outcomes using DNA sequencing, mathematical modeling

Is the human immune system similar to the weather, a seemingly random yet dynamical system that can be modeled based on past conditions to predict future states? Scientists at VCU Massey Cancer Center's award-winning Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) Program believe it is, and they recently published several studies that support the possibility of using next-generation DNA sequencing and mathematical modeling to not only understand the variability observed in clinical outcomes of stem cell transplantation, but also to provide a theoretical framework to make transplantation a possibility for more patients who do not have a related donor.

5 Dec 2014

Scientists uphold mouse model of human disease, but pinpoint vital differences in gene expression

Scientists at Penn State College of Medicine, working alongside an international team of researchers, have produced the most complete encyclopedia of functional elements in the mouse genome to date and compared it to the human genome.

5 Dec 2014

Research to Prevent Blindness, IRRF partner to advance knowledge about AMD

Research to Prevent Blindness, the leading eye research foundation, is partnering with the International Retinal Research Foundation to advance knowledge about age-related macular degeneration (AMD) through novel stem cell research.

5 Dec 2014

TSRI scientists identify 'mechanoreceptor' protein that mediates sense of touch in mammals

A team led by biologists at The Scripps Research Institute has solved a long-standing mystery in neuroscience by identifying the "mechanoreceptor" protein that mediates the sense of touch in mammals.

5 Dec 2014

Three IU researchers receive $2.1 million to develop computational biology models of liver toxicity

Three Indiana University professors have received $2.1 million to develop a computational model of acetaminophen-induced liver failure -- the leading cause of liver failure in the United States -- by using advanced microscopic and computational technologies that allow scientists to see into the liver of a living animal.

5 Dec 2014

Study: PET scanning strategy could help predict effectiveness of TB drugs

Sophisticated lung imaging can show whether or not a treatment drug is able to clear tuberculosis (TB) lung infection in human and macaque studies, according to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and their international collaborators.

5 Dec 2014

New single-cell genetic profiling techniques help uncover variation in pluripotent stem cells

Stem cells offer great potential in biomedical engineering due to their pluripotency, which is the ability to multiply indefinitely and also to differentiate and develop into any kind of the hundreds of different cells and bodily tissues. But the precise complexity of how stem cell development is regulated throughout states of cellular change has been difficult to pinpoint until now.

5 Dec 2014

Resveratrol in red wine inhibits formation of inflammatory factors that activate cardiovascular diseases

A natural substance present in red wine, resveratrol, inhibits the formation of inflammatory factors that trigger cardiovascular diseases. This has been established by a research team at the Department of Pharmacology of the University Medical Center of Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz working in collaboration with researchers of the Friedrich Schiller University in Jena and the University of Vienna.

4 Dec 2014

Oncologists examine efficacy of rose bengal against cancer

Rose Bengal has been around for decades starting as a way to dye wool. Originally used in medicine as a stain for ophthalmologists, it has a solid safety record going back to the 1930s. Recently, oncologists have examined its efficacy against cancer, specifically melanoma.

4 Dec 2014

New technology reveals cellular gene transcription process in detail

A new technology that reveals cellular gene transcription in greater detail has been developed by Dr. Daniel Kaufmann of the University of Montreal Hospital Research Centre and the research team he directed. "This new research tool offers us a more profound view of the immune responses that are involved in a range of diseases, such as HIV infection. At the level of gene transcription, this had been difficult, complex and costly to do with current technologies, such as microscopy," explained the University of Montreal professor.

4 Dec 2014

Controlling neural excitations may help prevent detrimental effects like those in stroke, say scientists

What do lasers, neural networks, and spreading epidemics have in common? They share a most basic feature whereby an initial pulse can propagate through a medium - be it physical, biological or socio-economic, respectively. The challenge is to gain a better understanding - and eventually control - of such systems, allowing them to be applied, for instance to real neural systems. This is the objective of a new theoretical study published in EPJ B by Clemens Bachmair and Eckehard Schöll from the Berlin University of Technology in Germany.

4 Dec 2014

New light-triggered strategy can provide accurate control over aptamer-based therapeutics

While aptamers—single-stranded nucleic acids—offer promise as drug-delivery tools for cancer treatment, it has proven difficult to get them to tumor cells at therapeutic levels.

4 Dec 2014

New chemical compound shows promise in restoring function lost to spinal cord injury

Case Western Reserve scientists have developed a new chemical compound that shows extraordinary promise in restoring function lost to spinal cord injury. The compound, which the researchers dubbed intracellular sigma peptide (ISP), allowed paralyzed muscles to activate in more than 80 percent of the animals tested.

4 Dec 2014

Medical Science News

University of Miami researcher reveals association between 'salience processing' and brain disorders

Cellular Research announces commercial availability of Precise targeted RNASeq assays

Abstinence-induced changes in the brain could help predict relapse in smokers

Researchers discover essential role of intestinal immune system in controlling energy metabolism

Most parents interested in newborn genomic testing, study reveals

Growth genes seem different in Hunger Winter children

Hormone leptin increases blood pressure that occurs with weight gain

Scientists seek to improve stem cell transplant outcomes using DNA sequencing, mathematical modeling

Scientists uphold mouse model of human disease, but pinpoint vital differences in gene expression

Research to Prevent Blindness, IRRF partner to advance knowledge about AMD

TSRI scientists identify 'mechanoreceptor' protein that mediates sense of touch in mammals

Three IU researchers receive $2.1 million to develop computational biology models of liver toxicity

Study: PET scanning strategy could help predict effectiveness of TB drugs

New single-cell genetic profiling techniques help uncover variation in pluripotent stem cells

Resveratrol in red wine inhibits formation of inflammatory factors that activate cardiovascular diseases

Oncologists examine efficacy of rose bengal against cancer

New technology reveals cellular gene transcription process in detail

Controlling neural excitations may help prevent detrimental effects like those in stroke, say scientists

New light-triggered strategy can provide accurate control over aptamer-based therapeutics

New chemical compound shows promise in restoring function lost to spinal cord injury

Achieving and maintaining ISO/IEC 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut

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